Can incoming freshman Nowell win starting job?

NEW YORK — Barclays Center has been very, very good to the UConn men’s basketball team.

The Huskies’ march to a sixth national championship began inside the Brooklynbased arena a month ago with wins over Stetson and Northwestern. Two months from now, Donovan Clingan and Stephon Castle are expected to be lottery picks in the 2024 NBA Draft, which will be held at Barclays.

James Bouknight (2021) and Jordan Hawkins (2023) have already heard their names called as lottery picks inside the building in recent years. Heck, if you want to go back a bit more, the Huskies began their 2013-14 national championship season with a win over Maryland inside Barclays.

On Sunday night, the venue provided a sneak preview of UConn’s future in the form of one (and possibly two) players in the Jordan Brand Classic.

Ahmad Nowell, a four-star prospect point guard who committed to the Huskies last summer, and Liam McNeeley, an Indiana de-commit who is visiting UConn Monday and Tuesday, competed against each other in the annual high school allstar game. McNeeley may have won the battle, earning MVP honors for Team Air with 25 points on 8-for-14 shooting (5-for-10 from 3). But Nowell won the war, helping Team Flight to a 119-113 victory.

“Great experience to be in front of all these people and be able to perform and get the win,” Nowell said.

Nowell, a Philadelphia product, looked perfectly at home in an NBA arena. A strong, sturdy, 6-foot, 180-pound point guard, Nowell already appears ready for the physicality of the Big East. Coming off the bench for Team Flight, Nowell scored nine points on 3-for-9 shooting (1-for-2 from 3), while grabbing six rebounds and doling out five assists.

Now, he’s ready to begin his college career in Storrs sometime over the next month.

“Very excited to see my coach, see the game plan he has and get that great level of

coaching,” Nowell said.

A national top-35 recruit, Nowell would seem to be in line for immediate playing time (possibly even starting) for the Huskies. With Castle and Tristen Newton now chasing

their NBA dreams, there is a void in the UConn backcourt. Steady senior Hassan Diarra returns, and though he won the Big East’s Sixth Man Award last season, he may be ready to take over the starting point guard reins.

Or maybe Nowell can win the job, either right off

the bat like Castle did this past season, or later in the year. Either way, he hasn’t talked about it much with Dan Hurley and the UConn coaching staff.

“That hasn’t been really much of a conversation,” Nowell said. “(Hurley) recruited me because he knew I was going to compete, he knew I was a dog

and I was going to play hard. With that being said, he doesn’t have to say it, I just have to show it and prove that I can be out there on the court with those guys.”

McNeeley, a 6-7 forward from Montverde Academy, could fill the role of shooter the Huskies lose in Newton, Cam Spencer

and (possibly) Alex Karaban. He certainly looked the Karaban part on Sunday night, even tossing up a nifty alley-oop lob for a fast-break dunk by his Montverde teammate, Cooper Flagg.

Could McNeeley and Nowell share a backcourt at UConn next season? Certainly possible.

Late in Sunday’s game, Nowell committed his lone foul of the contest on McNeeley. Prior to that foul, he had told McNeeley, “If I get this stop, you have to come (to UConn).”

Does a foul count as a stop? Probably not. Still, the ball is in McNeeley’s court over the next couple of days.

Gregory Payan/Associated Press Imhotep’s Ahmad Nowell in action against Cardinal Hayes during a high school basketball game at the Hoophall Classic in January in Springfield, Mass.